London has been battered by 50mph winds that have felled trees and caused travel chaos. Powerful gusts swept across the capital as the Met Office issued a yellow "be aware" weather alert for most of the country.

David Cameron warned that he has "serious concerns and misgivings" about the prospect of legislation on press regulation.

Responding to Lord Justice Leveson's report on media ethics, the Prime Minister broadly welcomed the principles he set out to reform the current system.

But he cast doubt on the report's central recommendation that a new system of press self-regulation required a statutory underpinning if it was to command public confidence.

"I have some serious concerns and misgivings about this recommendation," he told MPs in a Commons statement.

"For the first time we would have crossed the Rubicon, writing elements of press regulation into the law of the land," he said.

"We should, I believe, be wary of any legislation which has the potential to infringe free speech and a free press. In this House, which has been a bulwark of democracy for centuries, we should think very, very carefully before crossing this line."